Luke 11:24-26

This, my friends, is a difficult passage indeed. Coming straight from the lips of Jesus we are given a stern warning against remaining empty once truth has been revealed to us. He is referring here to the demoniac He has just healed. The evil spirit was presently gone from the man. It was now seeking a place of rest. I am reminded of a similar incidence in Scripture of another demoniac that Jesus had healed:2 When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an evil spirit came from the tombs to meet him. 3 This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him any more, not even with a chain. 4 For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him. 5 Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones. 6 When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him. 7 He shouted at the top of his voice, "What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Swear to God that you won't torture me!" 8 For Jesus had said to him, "Come out of this man, you evil spirit!" 9 Then Jesus asked him, "What is your name?" "My name is Legion," he replied, "for we are many." 10 And he begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of the area. 11 A large herd of pigs was feeding on the nearby hillside. 12 The demons begged Jesus, "Send us among the pigs; allow us to go into them." 13 He gave them permission, and the evil spirits came out and went into the pigs. The herd, about two thousand in number, rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned. Mark 5:2-13 (NIV)
What an amazing story! Can you even imagine the appreciation of the man from whom these legions of demons were cast? Oh the mercy and kindness of our Lord. Yet the story does not end with this ex-demoniac empty and swept clean going about his business as usual. We find latter in the passage: 18 As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. 19 Jesus did not let him, but said, "Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you." 20 So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed. Mark 5:18-21 (NIV)

I am confident this ex-demoniac was finding out first hand that no one can dispute one’s own testimony. It is powerful and the one that has lived it can only tell it with as much passion as it deserves! This man was living proof of the mercy and grace of our Lord. He was not going to be kept silent nor was he ever going back. Just like Mary Magdalene from whom seven demons were cast. She had cared for Christ’s needs during His ministry here on earth, was at the foot of the cross during His crucifixion, and stood crying outside of the tomb at His burial. Sweet Jesus appears to her to comfort her before His ascension honoring her by being the first He appeared to. The ex-demoniac and Mary Magdalene have something in common here – both were consumed with Christ, passionately pursuing Him, desiring never to return to the way life was prior to their meeting Him. We should definitely take note of this. The empty way of life was a horror to them as it should be to us all. It held out nothing but the smell of death. It may seem unfathomable to us for anyone healed of a demon possessed condition not to be like these two examples yet the warning Jesus gives us today implies that it at least could happen. There are passages of Scripture to support this also:

11 As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly. Prov 26:11 (NIV)

A person can return to their evil habits even though they are disgusting.

Peter also tells us speaking of false teachers who have been exposed to the truth yet not appropriated it into their lives:

19 They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity--for a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him. 20 If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. 21 It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. 22 Of them the proverbs are true: "A dog returns to its vomit," and, "A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud." 2 Peter 2:19-22 (NIV)

The word “live” in verse 26 of our passage for today is quite interesting. It is translated from the Greek word “Katoikeo” meaning “to settle down to live; frequently, the word suggests more than the mere presence or existence of the subject, but also the establishing of a connection between him and the site. One personally attaches himself to a locale designating it as his place of residence and accommodates the environment and territory to himself (i.e. his interests, tastes and habits).” New Testament Lexical Aids The Hebrew-Greek Key Word Study Bible. When these demons entered back into this empty host they intended to accommodate that environment to suit their interests – frightening.

We must advance and not retreat in our spiritual growth and walk. It is a grim prospect indeed to go back. The writer of Hebrews tells us:

1 Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, 2 instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 3 And God permitting, we will do so. Heb 6:1-3 (NIV)